2023 Brand Red and Black Revelation: There are risks in skirting the line to gain traffic, beware of the big reversal of double standards

A lot has happened in 2023. This article will review the brand explosions and failures in 2023, trying to reflect the changes in the consumer market, consumer mentality and social trends, and try to propose new interaction paths and methods. You can take a look if you need it.

In 2023, the first year after the COVID-19 pandemic, the consumer market will show a K-shaped recovery. High-end consumption and leading brands are increasing in both volume and price, while in the mass and affordable markets, consumption is returning to low frequency and low price, and consumption in the middle is overflowing upward and downward.

This year, a number of high-end luxury consumption showed a counter-cyclical growth trend, becoming a bright spot in 2023. For example, we saw that LVMH Group's market in Asia showed a counter-cyclical growth trend, with Asian markets outside Japan growing by 34% in the second quarter of 2023; Beijing SKP's sales in 2023 were 26.5 billion yuan, up 10.8% from the previous year.

This year, we have also seen that from "special forces-style tourism" to "consumption downgrade", and then to the rise of Pinduoduo, Xianyu and 1688, low prices have become the choice and preference of more and more people; from "9.9 yuan coffee" to "big brand substitutes", even JD.com has started to play the low-price card.

2023 is also a year of accelerated adjustment. From the full expectations and longings at the beginning of the year, to the gradual recovery in the middle of the year, to the shopping spree at the end of the year, the major changes in the consumer market are tantamount to a paradigm revolution. This major adjustment can be seen as a warning to development inertia and environmental changes.

In the midst of great changes, it is becoming increasingly difficult for brands to capture consumers and create a "Wow Moment" that will make them "never forget". While some people have successfully become famous through marketing and have won great wealth, some brands have repeatedly failed. It is not that they are not doing well enough, but that the environment is reshaping consumers' behaviors and habits.

This reshaping process has obviously gone beyond the commercial level. Ebrun Power has reviewed the brand explosions and failures in 2023, trying to reflect the changes in the consumer market, consumer mentality and social trends in which the brands are located, and trying to propose new paths and methods of interaction. Success may not be replicable, but experience is definitely worth learning.

01

As the tide of joint ventures surges, consumers are increasingly demanding on joint venture brands. The contrast between high-end luxury and low prices can better meet consumers' demand for novelty and diversification of products, and can also help brands stand out from the crowd of joint ventures and bring consumers a new experience.

Looking back at the joint marketing cases in 2023, tea brands accounted for almost half of them, including game joint brands, animation joint brands, emoticon package joint brands, etc. There is nothing you can't think of that can't be linked to the brand.

However, these collaborations either only attract consumers from certain circles, or the co-branded IPs do not have a high influence, and consumers are dismissive and cannot arouse their desire to buy. In 2023, the truly popular collaborations will be the cross-border combination of high-end luxury brands and down-to-earth tea drinks, and even multiple popular collaborations will appear.

For example, the "wine and coffee" combination of Moutai and Luckin Coffee, the former is known as "liquid gold" and "hard currency", while the latter has both a popular channel network and a personalized IP with a selling point of 9.9 yuan. The combination of the two has made a benchmark case for brand marketing. It is reported that the joint-branded sauce-flavored latte sold more than 5.42 million cups on the first day, with sales of more than 100 million yuan per product.

In addition, this collaboration is not just a simple IP authorization. For Moutai, in addition to selling products and IP authorization, what is more important is to bring Moutai and young people closer together and achieve mutual leverage and mutual benefit.

Moutai and Luckin Coffee are not isolated cases. Another example is the collaboration between Heytea and Italian luxury brand FENDI, which allows young people to buy luxury goods for only 19 yuan and own their first FENDI. The joint product was sold out and received praise from Lei Jun, truly achieving both popularity and sales.

Image source: Luckin Coffee, Heytea official account

02

With the rise of Generation Z, "meme marketing" has become a common way for more and more brands to interact with consumers and seize their minds. Creating festivals by playing with memes and following the trend of young people are also bringing considerable business and sales to some brands.

The new brand But Lab has launched a coffee called "Bitter Sweetheart" specifically for working women, using the image of a hard-working worker to arouse empathy. "Yes, coffee is not bitter. You can add milk to bitter coffee, but you can't get a raise if your work is hard." Such sharp advertising slogans are like uncovering the "fig leaf" of contemporary young people, revealing the pain points of young people's work and life. Concrete abstract emotions, speak for people, become a mouthpiece for workers, and tell consumers through marketing that "I am actually the same as you."

Image source: but lab Xiaohongshu official account

The same is true for the advertising slogan of Zhiben. When a brand uses homophonic puns, the most taboo is to force the use of puns. This is why countless netizens shouted that if you use homophonic puns, you will be fined. "Really, it can be removed", these four short words not only succinctly summarize the product features, but also make young consumers who pursue novelty feel interesting. They are also happy to share this special "homophonic" phenomenon with others, forming a spread and increasing the volume.

Liu Fengming, a toy merchant in Yangzhou, followed the advice of netizens and made a shark horse riding toy. This actually changed his business model. Now, he mainly designs and produces toys based on IPs such as homophonic puns, and then sells them through short videos and live broadcasts. A single product can sell 2 million toys. In Yangzhou, this model has spawned leading players in the segment such as Youqu Youpin and Ace. (See "Shark horse riding actually made him sell 2 million toys on Douyin: IP business in a small city in Jiangsu")

03

“It’s not that I can’t afford XX, it’s just that XX is more cost-effective.” The reason behind the rise of cost-effective aesthetics is that more and more consumers prefer low-price consumption. How to adjust products and prices according to the consumer market will become one of the most core issues facing brands.

At the beginning of 2023, netizens complained about the "sky-high-priced potatoes" sold by Banu Hotpot. A portion of selenium-rich potatoes for 18 yuan only had 5 slices. Although Banu Hotpot later explained that 5 slices was a small portion and the price in the Xi'an store was 9 yuan, netizens did not buy it, believing that indicators such as "selenium-rich" and trace elements are not easy to detect, and merchants use this as a gimmick to raise prices, which is difficult to convince consumers. According to investigations, the price of selenium-rich potatoes on e-commerce platforms does not exceed 5 yuan per kilogram.

In mid-July, Jasmine yogurt was on the hot search list again and again, with netizens discussing topics such as "Jasmine yogurt's new product is priced as low as 68 yuan." This "high-priced but low-quality" product was boycotted by consumers, who jokingly said that the prices of 68 yuan, 88 yuan, and 108 yuan were "too expensive" and "only dared to order it on special occasions."

In September, Huaxizi was pushed to the forefront of public opinion because of the fact that "the price of 1 gram of eyebrow pencil is higher than 1 gram of gold". According to Yibang Power's investigation, in fact, Huaxizi has always maintained a relatively stable price and quality. The incident revealed the rise of cost-effective aesthetics and that more and more consumers have become price-sensitive users.

04

The rise of Generation Z has made them the main force of domestic brands. They are willing to express themselves through their consumption behavior of supporting domestic brands. At the same time, in an era of pursuing quality-price ratio, affordable domestic brands are often more popular.

After the Huaxizi incident, Fenghua sounded the rallying cry for domestic products, and the domestic live broadcast room ushered in the era of "random broadcast":

In the live broadcast room of Hongxing Erke, the anchor used Fenghua to wash her hair, and played Baixiang, Yunnan Baiyao, and Wahaha Eight Treasure Porridge. Hongxing Erke was played in the live broadcast room of Fenghua, and the anchor of Huiyuan drank Mixue Bingcheng in the live broadcast room; in order to catch up with the popularity of domestic products, the chairman of Yumeijing took the initiative to report on his work live, allowing more consumers to see the efforts of domestic products and gained 320,000 followers in one day; Huoli 28 temporarily organized a live broadcast of three elderly people and sold more than 200,000 bags of laundry detergent; in order to prove that its soap is safe and has no additives, the chairman of Hongwei Soap took a bite of the soap and drank a sip of mineral water directly in the live broadcast room and swallowed it into his stomach.

With the rise of the national trend, domestic brands are facing new opportunities. Whether they can seize this wave of dividends and make domestic products continue to be popular still tests the marketing capabilities of domestic brands. Moreover, Generation Z is a generation that values ​​appearance. How to innovate product packaging and products themselves, rather than relying solely on the traffic of "domestic products" to attract consumers, is still a question worth exploring for domestic brands.

Data shows that 51.6% of respondents believe that "brand interaction with consumers and establishing direct contact" will promote their purchase of products, and 80.6% of respondents believe that whether they have a "pleasant and interesting shopping experience (such as entertaining interaction with the brand)" will affect brand loyalty.

05

Double standards are brewing again. If global brands want to develop steadily, they must have consistent emotional identification with the local market. "Double standards" for domestic and foreign consumers, or even "worshiping foreign things", will greatly damage the brand image and reduce consumers' favorability towards the brand.

In April 2023, the BMW MINI ice cream incident was exposed, and the on-site staff treated the Chinese woman differently. The Chinese woman did not receive it, but then a foreigner came forward to ask and easily received it with a very enthusiastic attitude. When the person taking the photo came forward to receive it again, he was rejected. The reason was: "This is a limited edition ice cream." After the incident fermented, the German BMW AG (BMWG) fell more than 3% in European stocks, and the circulating market value evaporated 2.16 billion euros. Netizens commented sharply that "the evaporated market value can buy about 500 million ice creams."

In May, a blanket caused Cathay Pacific Airways to lose billions of dollars in market value. Flight attendants discriminated against non-English speaking passengers: When a passenger wanted a blanket, he said "carpet" in English, which made many flight attendants laugh at him. The circulating recordings even included bad remarks such as "If you can't say "blanket" in English, you don't deserve a blanket." The flight attendants could understand Chinese, but they forced passengers to speak English.

In fact, this is not the first time Cathay Pacific has been involved in a discrimination scandal. Cathay Pacific employees pretending not to understand Mandarin and flight attendants refusing to wear Chinese name tags have caused considerable controversy. Some media outlets have also published articles saying, "If they don't even listen to Chinese, why are they still operating in China?"

06

There are risks in riding on traffic and hot topics, and brands need to be cautious. Hot topics often involve dramatic conflicts, controversy, and are more likely to be reversed. If a brand wants to take advantage of this to become popular, it will either be at risk of being backfired by traffic or fail to make a splash after investing.

In June 2023, a piece of news about the "hand-holding incident" caught people's attention. In addition to the background of the two people, even the dress worn by the "female protagonist" was exposed. When the heat of this incident had not subsided, Gree's female anchor wore a "dismissal skirt" in the live broadcast room, which made many consumers feel that "Gree has become low-class", "there is no need to attract attention in this way", and "I will not buy it because of different values".

In December, the "small essay" incident of Dongfang Zhenxuan and Dong Yuhui continued to attract attention. At the same time, a short video account called "Western Zhenxuan" appeared on the Internet. Not only was the account name highly imitated "Dongfang Zhenxuan", but even the image of the anchor was very similar to Dong Yuhui. The intention behind this "copycat internet celebrity" model of bringing goods by frantically taking advantage of traffic is almost obvious. At present, the account has been banned by the platform for counterfeiting and improper hype, and its live broadcast rights have been revoked, improperly obtained fans have been deleted, and profit rights have been cancelled.

07

With the rise of the "she economy", women have taken over half of the consumer market. Marketing that makes fun of women and skirts the line of sight cannot escape the cautious and sharp eyes of consumers, while the effectiveness of brand marketing that respects and shows more humanistic care is being recognized.

In 2023, on International Women's Day, Seventh Space launched a special exhibition called "Black Bag Space". By tearing open giant daily necessities wrapped in black bags, it tells everyone that sanitary napkins are just ordinary daily necessities, just like a bottle of water or a pack of paper.

It has nothing to do with shame, and there is no need to hide it in a black bag. Instead, it conveys humanistic care to consumers with a sincere and plain attitude. This type of marketing not only respects female consumers, but also achieves good marketing results and successfully impresses women.

Image source: Seventh Generation, ukiss Xiaohongshu official account

When it comes to protecting women and safeguarding women's rights, we have to mention the Chinese beauty brand Ukiss. After launching the #是红妆，亦是武妆# charity event in 2021 and donating thousands of expired lipsticks, Ukiss shifted its focus to left-behind girls in 2023, guiding more people to pay attention to and participate in the action of protecting buds through the real manifestation of public welfare documentaries. The official microblog comment area was full of applause, and many netizens said "it's hard not to support it."

Some advertisements that portrayed women in a negative light using controversial slogans and sold gender anxiety caused a lot of disgust and were punished by relevant departments. For example, five female doctors posted an advertisement in an elevator to promote their products, which offended many people.

Previously, the official WeChat public account of Liuzhou snail noodle had published a message saying: "8 out of every 10 snail noodle eaters are women." As for the snail noodle giant Haohuanluo brand, on March 8, International Women's Day, it also published an article on its official WeChat public account titled "What do women taste like?", which caused heated discussion and was accused of "playing tricks" and "having no bottom line to attract attention", which once again caused dissatisfaction among female consumers.

Looking back at the popular and unpopular events that happened in 2023, we found that it was not because these brands suddenly did something in 2022, but because the environment and consumers they were in changed. The PEST model is a tool for companies to conduct macro-environment analysis. This model points out that the macro factors that affect companies in the industry include political, economic, social and technological.

Especially the changes in the social field, which are not easy to detect, but have a huge impact. Brand companies must learn to coexist with these factors. People who run businesses, especially those at the specific operational level, pay more attention to changes at the micro level, but the general trend of economic development will fundamentally change or affect micro-level operations. In the 1980s, after Japan's high-speed growth ended, market expectations were no longer high, asset prices fell, and Japan entered a low-desire society. The entire society's consumption became more conservative and more sensitive to prices. In fact, the lower classes of the United States have also experienced similar changes in recent years.

These calls can be seen as a passive correction. It is difficult to regard the brand's defining moment as either a sudden success or a failure, but in the current paradigm shift, ignoring these calls may mean actively staying away from this major change. Since it is a paradigm shift, its impact will continue to ferment.

When they can no longer wake up the brands pretending to be asleep, they will quietly vote with their money and never use the brands that offend them again. Compared with the past, these corrections are quite important and more urgent. In 2024, brand marketing should pay more attention to market insights and consumer insights, be sensitive to changes in consumer temperature, and respond quickly. As the saying goes, take advantage of the east wind to soar to the sky.

Author: Dong Jinpeng Editor: Jiang Qi

Source: WeChat public account "Ebrun Power (ID: iebrun)"